Peer Review

The ChildTrauma Academy

Ratings

The Child Trauma Academy provides continuing education online courses related to child trauma. The website currently has three courses: The Amazing Human Brain and Human Development; Surviving Childhood: An Introduction to the Impact of trauma; and The Cost of Caring: Secondary Traumatic Stress and the Impact of Working with High-Risk Children and Families. The online course are written in conversational tone, include graphics to support key concepts, include assignments and quizzes, and are supported with a message board. The site is supported with FAQs and classroom help links. Selected therapists and counselors in Texas and California can pay to obtain CEU credits or a certificate of completion; the courses are all free if education credit is not required.

Type of Material:

The learning material is organized in tutorial formatting with lessons, graphics, learning assignments, and quizzes.

Recommended Uses:

The learning materials can be used in many ways. For example, the resources can be used as stand-alone courses, homework assignments, group discussion assignmen

Technical Requirements:

There are no special technical requirements for these learning resources other than a computer, web-browser and an Internet connection. RealPlayer is needed to view the narrated presentation, although this link was not operational at the time of this review. There is no requirement for sound, video, nor special plug-in applications.

Identify Major Learning Goals:

The learning goals for The Amazing Human Brain and Human Development are:

1. Provide an overview of key principles of neurodevelopment crucial for understanding the role of experience in defining functional and physical organization of the brain.

2. Describe the emerging clinical and research findings in maltreated children that suggest the negative impact of abuse,
neglect and trauma on brain development.

3. Outline the clinical implications of a neurodevelopmental approach to child maltreatment.

4. Discuss the role of public policy and preventative practices in context of the impact of maltreatment on children's emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social and physical health

The learning goals for Surviving Childhood: An Introduction to the Impact of Trauma are:

1. Provide an overview of key principles of neurodevelopment crucial for understanding the role of experience in defining functional and physical organization of the brain

2. Describe the emerging clinical and research findings in maltreated children that suggest the negative impact of abuse, neglect and trauma on brain development

3. Outline the clinical implications of a neurodevelopmental approach to child maltreatment

4. Discuss the role of public policy and preventative practices in context of the impact of maltreatment on children's emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social and physical health

The learning goals for The Cost of Caring: Secondary Traumatic Stress and the Impact of
Working with High-Risk Children and Families are:

1. To introduce and discuss the concepts of burnout and secondary traumatic stress.

2. To review how unpredictable stress and trauma can negatively impact emotional, cognitive and physical functioning.

4. To help individuals understand the value of developing individualized ?protective? strategies when they work in conditions likely to cause secondary traumatic stress

5. To direct individuals to additional resources that can further assist in meeting objectives.

Target Student Population:

The state target student population includes licensed professional counselors, licensed social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, and educators. The target student population could easily include healthcare pre-professionals, psychology students, nurses, physicians, and CASA workers.

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

The introduction to Course 1 clearly states that no biology or neuroscience background is necessary. The authors go on to say that a basic understanding of human brain function and brain development is helpful.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

The content is accurate, pertinent, and complete.Content is presented primarily as text which may not be appropriate for all learning styles.

Although brain neuroscience is complex, the authors write in a very conversational tone and explain the brain functions with real-life terminology.

There are course objectives for each online course.

The learning material is consistently broken down into lessons and learning assignments.

There is a message board.

There is information on how to subscribe to surviving childhood listserv and surviving childhood Yahoo groups.

Concerns:

Additional graphics,animations interactive assignments & quizzes could enhance learning and interest of this complex subject.However,the lack of these features does not indicate diminished quality of the content.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

The learning materials are effective teaching tools:

The learning material is an exploration of factors associated with child trauma that educators, therapists and counselors deal with on a daily basis.

Each online course builds upon the concepts in the previous courses.

Summary statements provide a bridge to demonstrate relationships of concepts.

The conversational tone is engaging.

The learning materials are consistently well-organized in the same manner.

Concerns:

The concerns are very minimal:

The link to Brain Organization and Function: A Brief Overview, a narrated slide presentation using RealPlayer did not work.

The three "special comments" links were also broken at the time of this review.

The neuroscience material is very complex and would benefit from the use of additional graphics and animations.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

The site is easy to navigate.

There are FAQs and instructions related to classroom help.

There is a message board.

The one link requiring the use of RealPlayer had a link to download the software for users that needed the application.

Concerns:

No concerns

Other Issues and Comments:

The three online courses were thoughtfully designed with the interest of the child and the learner in mind. The lessons addressed an extremely important subject.

Creative Commons:

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